With the recent court room and lawsuits issues behind the scenes overtaking the in ring action within TNA, understandably Impact Wrestling fans across the world were wanting to know how exactly is this going to effect the promotion going forward.
Regrettably fans in the UK found out what lies ahead in 2017 when it is in relation to getting ‘Impact Wrestling’ regularly on a Sunday from Challenge TV. Bringing the news from their website and on social media Challenge had this to say:
“We know that many TNA fans will be disappointed to hear this, but we wanted to let you all know that as of January 2017, Challenge will no longer be the home of TNA in the UK. TNA has been a huge and important part of Challenge’s story over the years and we will treasure some great moments like the British Bootcamp and UK tours. We have been proud to bring UK viewers coverage of TNA and have huge respect for the company and its fans. TNA is packed with great talent and we know they will continue to do great things – we wish them all the best.” – Challenge TV – November 1st 2016.
And with those words fans saw the partnership that began in 2010 end. Before fans see this as one of the nails in the coffin of the promotion, TNA themselves had this to say:
“We are proud to have had such a great relationship with Challenge, and appreciate how the channel brought Impact Wrestling to our avid viewers through the years. In today’s world, spoilers are inevitable. We’ve heard from the amazing fans in the UK and know you do not want to wait 3-5 days to watch the program after it airs in the US.
Our goal is to broadcast Impact Wrestling in the UK as close to the US premiere as possible. We look forward to announcing that opportunity soon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we hope you continue to watch Impact Wrestling on Challenge, Sunday nights at 9pm, as well as Xplosion and pay-per-views and follow us on social media. Thank you.”
Going by that statement, it appears that TNA may be looking at another TV channel within the UK to air their shows, however with Impact Wrestling ratings declining in the UK, ITV soon to launch the revived World of Sport, the UK wrestling industry as a whole becoming more popular than it has since the 80’s and not to mention TNA pulling it’s stars from UK promotions to record episodes less than a mere month which has shown a strange lack of forward thinking damaging it’s creditability with the fans, TNA could find it a hard sell.
The one thing that fans should realise is this, for years TNA has “been going out of business”, for the past ten years rumours have been rife at the companies demise. Admittedly fans who lived through the end of ECW and WCW can say the recent weeks watching the behind the scenes drama of TNA are strangely familiar.
This blow to the promotion should hit home to whoever owns it and make them realise that wrestling is a business. If your company looks weak, unreliable and the behind the scenes drama is getting more coverage than the action you should be promoting, you should press that emergency button and get your house in order. Impact Wrestling has had a strong history in wrestling, think of the names they helped produce, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, EC3, Eric Young, Gail Kim to name a few, personally I want them strive forward.
They have a strong roster already, a monumental fan base in place they just need a plan, the money and a realistic structure going forward.